Authorities in Shenzhen, China, are searching for 13 people who went missing following a sudden ground collapse at a railway construction site.

According to a statement from the district's emergency management bureau, the incident occurred late Wednesday night, around 11 PM local time, at a section of the Shenzhen-Jiangmen railway in Bao'an District.

PHOTO | COURTESY The site of the incident 

Officials confirmed that the collapse prompted an immediate evacuation of nearby residents, and major highways near the site were closed to facilitate rescue operations. Search and rescue efforts continued into Thursday morning as investigators worked to determine the cause of the incident.

Construction on the railway connecting Shenzhen to Jiangmen in Guangdong Province began in 2022.

Industrial accidents remain a concern in China, often linked to inconsistent enforcement of safety regulations.

Similar incidents earlier this year include a mining accident in Sichuan Province that claimed eight lives in August, a gas explosion in Hebei Province that killed seven and injured dozens in March, and a residential building fire in Nanjing that resulted in 15 fatalities in February.